It’s earnings season for Q3.
This week, a pair of primes—Lockheed Martin ($LMT) and Northrop Grumman ($NOC)—and satcom operator Iridium ($IRDM) reported their revenues for the third quarter. We’ve got the roundup of all the space-related tidbits inside.
Lockheed Martin: Lockheed’s overall earnings are up and beating projections for the year, and its space business line is no exception.
The key numbers:
- $18.6B in total sales, beating both last year’s revenue and expectations for the quarter
- $3.4B in sales for the space division, up from $3.1B in Q3 2024
- Operating profit of $331M for space, up from $272M in the same period last year
The increase in space earnings, Lockheed reported, could be tied to $160M in sales for “strategic and missile defense programs,” plus an additional $70M on national security programs.
“Major national‑defense initiatives like the Golden Dome for America demand proven leadership in a wide range of skills, including integrated air and missile defense, space warfare and highly secure command‑and‑control systems,” Jim Taiclet, CEO of Lockheed, pointed out in the earnings release.
Northrop Grumman: Northrop is also reporting a bump over what it brought in during the same period last year—but not in its space business. Space segment sales rang in lower than in Q3 of 2024, while the company’s aeronautics, defense, and mission systems business lines saw boosts.
By the numbers:
- Total sales of $10.4B across the whole company, up from $10B last year
- $2.7B of those sales came from the space segment, which saw a decrease from $2.9B in the same quarter last year
The prime attributed its decreased earnings to a lower volume of SDA satellite contracts, as well as finishing work on Next Generation Interceptor programs. A $100M contract from NASA for commercial resupply services helped to offset the dip.
Iridium: Last, but not least. Iridium brought in more revenue than expected for the quarter and has updated its guidance for the year.
Notable numbers:
- Total revenue of $226.9M in Q3
- The company has 2.54M billable subscribers to its satcom network, up ever so slightly from 2.48M this time last year
- Cash on hand of $88.5M
Iridium credits its growth in both revenue and subscriber numbers to its commercial Internet of Things business. IoT brought in $4.6M, up 7% YoY.
Despite its higher-than-expected revenues, $IRDM isn’t seeing a boost. The stock price has dropped ~8% since the company reported earnings at business open yesterday.
